Coach K
Paulus will play, but his right arm is injured and they hope he'll be getting close to 100% by Thursday.
Praise for Mullins - "One of the most effective players in the country"
When asked if playing at the Garden is like a home game - "I love New York and the Garden, it's still to me the Mecca of college basketball. We have a lot of Duke fans up there, we'd love for them to help us in whatever way good fans can help a team."
"We've tried to build our team around Singler, Shyer, and Henderson. Those are our best players. Lance Thomas is having a fabulous year coming off the bench, but we think he's a starter."
Remember Chris Lowery from 1993? - "He was a really good player, but we had a very good team." Coach K went on to say, "Coach Lowery is like an old school coach, fundamentals, his kids play really well together. Each year they grow together."
Coach Lowery
What does it mean to be in the national spotlight? - "We feel we're continuously building our program on a national level, and it's a very important recruiting tool that we hope to build on."
When asked about SIU being 1-0 all time at MSG vs Duke - "It was a great moment for our program, but of course we had one of the top 50 players of all time [Walt Frazier] on our team back then."
What do you remember about the Duke game in 1993? - "I remember being in Grant Hill's poster. It was our first time in the NCAA's in 20 years and they were coming off back-to-back National Championships. Feeling like, what can we do to stop what they are doing? So that's what we are working on in our practices, and hopefully we can do some of that."
"Duke is a measuring stick for everybody, but we have to let our kids know it's not the super bowl. If you have success against them it's not the end of your season, or if you don't have success against them it's not the end of your season."
